Yemen, 1997

It gives me pleasure to extend to Mr. Udovenko our

heartfelt congratulations on his election to the presidency of

the General Assembly at its fifty-second session. We are

confident that his experience and wisdom will contribute to

the successful and efficient conduct of the deliberations of

the Assembly and help us achieve our desired objective.

I am also pleased to address our thanks and

appreciation to his predecessor, Mr. Razali Ismail,

Permanent Representative of sisterly Malaysia, for the

manner in which he conducted the work of the previous

session.

I take this opportunity to express my country’s

appreciation to Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his

valuable efforts in serving the interests of the international

community, strengthening international peace and security

and striving to attain the noble principles and objectives of

the United Nations.

I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to pay

tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali,

former Secretary-General of the United Nations, for the

positive and important role he played in carrying out the

tasks and responsibilities of the United Nations Secretariat.

If we were to define the general trend characterizing

the fifty-second session of the General Assembly, we

would say it is the great attention paid to the Secretary-

General’s report on the financial and structural reforms of

the United Nations and its related agencies. This points to

the fact that the Secretary-General’s reform proposals are

of great significance and not just an ordinary matter.

Indeed, they aim at preparing the Organization to usher in

the twenty-first century with more vigour and

competence, thus enabling it to achieve the noble

objectives of the Charter.

The Republic of Yemen, in principle, supports these

proposals. However, we have to underline certain basic

considerations that should not be forgotten or overlooked

under the rubric of financial and administrative reforms

of the Organization. It is first and foremost necessary to

emphasize that the purpose of these reforms should be to

reinforce the United Nations ability to shoulder its

responsibilities within the framework of the noble

objectives for which it was established under the Charter,

which we all have accepted and pledged to abide by.

As a least developed country itself, the Republic of

Yemen expresses its concern regarding some indications

in the report that the United Nations role in the field of

development may be reduced and its responsibilities

limited in the field of social justice and the task of

narrowing the huge gap that separates the developing and

developed industrialized countries — all on the pretext

that some of these responsibilities have been shifted

elsewhere.

Any move in this direction is bound to encourage

certain dangerous phenomena that we have been

witnessing of late, including legal and illegal emigration

from developing to developed countries, that could sow

the seeds of social, ethnic and cultural conflict. Any

diminishing of the United Nations role in development

will lead to an increase in the population of developing

countries, which, in the absence of such basic needs as

food, clothing and shelter, could lead to a further

deterioration of the environment.

For these reasons, we would like to confirm in the

name of the Republic of Yemen that the development

tasks undertaken by the United Nations and its related

agencies constitute an integral part of the main objective

behind its establishment: to achieve international peace

and security on this planet.

21

With regard to the question of reforming and

expanding the Security Council, which has been under

much discussion for some time and is referred to in the

Secretary-General’s report, we strongly support the

expansion of the representative basis of the Council, either

by accepting Japan and Germany as new permanent

members or by increasing the number of permanent

members through an increase in the representation of

geographic groups and by allowing each group to rotate its

permanent seat among the countries of that group.

We support what has been said about the need to

reduce the use of the power of veto by permanent members.

Indeed, its use should be limited to matters that directly

affect the highest national interests. In this way, we can

avoid the arbitrary use of the veto power in matters that are

irrelevant to such interests, but affect narrow regional

calculations or temporary political gains unrelated to issues

of international peace and security.

It is known to all that our Organization was created in

1945 to implement the principles of its Charter, which

stipulates that its main task is to maintain international

peace and security, settle international conflicts, protect

human rights and the dignity of man and respect the

commitments emanating from international conventions and

pacts.

During the 50-plus years of its life, this Organization

has witnessed ethnic and national wars and conflicts as well

as rivalries and polarizations that have led to controversies

because of what was then known as the cold war between

the super-Powers. No one can deny the fact, however, that

the wars that raged from Latin America in the west to the

African continent and even to East Asia have indeed

subsided, thanks to the undeniably worthy efforts of the

international Organization itself and of efforts made from

outside the Organization, but mostly under its umbrella.

Yet, one important question that threatened peace and

security in our region even before the creation of this

international Organization still constitutes a looming danger

to international peace and security. It is the question of

Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict, with all its

complexities. The international Organization has failed to

solve this question and has been forced to be a mere

onlooker before the various attempts that have been made

but have yet to reach a comprehensive, durable and just

peace.

The displacement of millions, the occupation of their

territories, the establishment of settlements, the confiscation

of their properties, the arrest of tens of thousands of

Palestinians and the violation of their most basic human

rights, all of which result from the Arab-Israeli conflict,

constitute a flagrant breach of all the noble principles

enshrined in the United Nations Charter and a challenge

to the resolutions of international legitimacy emanating

from the Security Council and this Assembly.

We believe that it is the right of all people in

general, and of every citizen in the Middle East in

particular, to speculate about the secret behind the

inability of the international community to tame a State

whose population is less than half the population of this

city in which we are meeting to adopt legitimate

international resolutions.

Even more peculiar is that, when a candle of hope

flickered and lit the dark fierce night of the struggle that

started early this decade — that is, when the world felt

some optimism following the announcement of the Oslo

agreement, the signature of the Jordanian-Israeli peace

agreement and the progress achieved in the talks on the

Syrian track to a stage described by President Hafez Al-

Assad of Syria as at times encompassing fewer points of

divergence than of convergence — after that slim beam

of hope, the new Israeli Government came all of a sudden

to extinguish it and decided to send the whole region

back to square one: conflict and destruction.

On the other side of the spectrum of what is being

called today the “new world order”, we are all asked, and

without exception, to implement the harshest sanctions

against the Iraqi people, even seven years after the

withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Can anyone tell

us which lands the Iraqis are still occupying now and why

the Iraqi people should be displaced and deprived of their

most basic legitimate rights? Is it not high time for the

humanitarian conscience of some of us, particularly the

permanent member States, to be awakened and for an end

to be put to the sufferings of the Iraqi people?

In accordance with its positive stand in support of

the peace process in the Middle East, which is in line

with the position of the Arab Summit Conference held in

Cairo in June 1996, the Republic of Yemen reiterates its

commitment to seeing the process for a just and

comprehensive peace completed as stipulated by the

Madrid Conference, in the resolutions of international

legitimacy — particularly Security Council resolutions

242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978) — and in

subsequent relevant agreements and protocols, and in

keeping with the principle of land for peace.

22

This principle would ensure the complete Israeli

withdrawal from all the occupied Palestinian territories; the

establishment by the Palestinian people of its own

independent State, with East Jerusalem as its capital; the

return of the Palestinian refugees; the release of prisoners;

the dismantling of the settlements built by the Israeli

occupation authorities in the occupied territories in defiance

of the resolutions of international legitimacy; and full

withdrawal from occupied Golan and occupied southern

Lebanon.

Furthermore, we affirm that Israel should respect the

sovereignty of brotherly Lebanon, should release the

Lebanese prisoners and detainees in the Israeli camps, and

should compensate Lebanon for all the damages caused by

the Israeli aggressions against its peoples and lands.

Since it gained its unity and strove to consolidate the

democratic direction it has adopted, the Republic of Yemen

held the second parliamentary elections on 27 April this

year. The elections took place in a free and fair atmosphere,

as confirmed by national and international observers. These

elections will have positive effects at all levels — national,

regional, Arab and international — for they represent a new

and advanced turning point in strengthening the democratic

direction that is based on a multi-party political system,

freedom of the press, respect for human rights, and the

institutional consolidation of the modern Yemeni State.

Our people is still waging its most important and most

difficult struggles to implement the programmes set up by

the newly elected Government and approved by the elected

house of representatives. These programmes focus on

pursuing reform efforts — economically, financially and

administratively — and on continuing cooperation with the

International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for

Reconstruction and Development.

In this regard, our objectives are to correct the

economic, financial and structural imbalances; to achieve

steadiness and stability in the economy as a whole; to

activate the role of the private sector in the competitive

free-market economy; to achieve sustainable development;

to foster stable environments so as to attract foreign

investments; to upgrade the basic necessary services of

society; and to build the new State and improve the

standards of living of all citizens.

Following these elections and the formation of a new

Government, Yemen has persisted in its efforts in the

implementation of the advanced stages of its economic and

administrative reform programmes. These programmes have

been welcomed by the international financial institutions

and by the Brussels conference of donor countries, which

pledged $1.8 billion in support of the Yemeni

Government’s efforts over the next three years. Our

thanks go to all donor Governments and organizations

that have manifested their support for and solidarity with

the Yemeni people.

The British Prime Minister Henry Palmerston is

reported to have said that the foreign policy of a country

is the reflection and expression of its internal policy. And

since economic and social development constitutes the

backbone of the internal policy of the Republic of Yemen,

the success or failure of the Yemeni foreign policy could

therefore be measured by its ability or inability to bring

in foreign support in order to realize the main objective

of its internal policy.

This leads me to say that a country such as Yemen,

which mainly depends on foreign aid to carry out its

internal policy — that is, its economic, social and cultural

development — has to take into account, in seeking the

financial and technical assistance needed to achieve the

objectives of the internal policy, certain basic

considerations that might seem to others supplementary

and not mandatory.

Allow me to say in this respect that within the

parameters of a foreign policy there exists a red line that

should not be violated when realizing an internal

objective. Most important among these considerations is

the need to safeguard sovereignty and not to become

mortgaged to others when seeking national interests.

Foreign support should not be sought at the expense of

the regional and international commitments of the

country. Correspondingly, there are also certain basic

considerations that are unanimously recognized by the

international community which cannot be ignored or

overlooked, as this would adversely affect the interests of

that country and damage its relations with the

international community. Included in those considerations

is the need to abide by international pacts and

conventions and to respect human rights.

Equally, the fight against terrorism and violence in

all their forms and manifestations, regardless of their

origins or perpetrators and regardless of where they are

committed, has become a basic consideration that cannot

be overlooked by any country seeking foreign assistance

or even mere acceptance by the international community.

23

In a similar manner, the relation between a

Government and its citizens has a direct and strong bearing

on its relations with the donor countries that are to provide

assistance and support. We need not be too idealistic,

however, for the requirements of national interest of some

donor countries have been placed above those idealistic

principles. As a result many countries that have had

extremely bad relations with their peoples have still

managed to get a considerable amount of financial aid,

although this occurred more during the cold war than now.

The Republic of Yemen is therefore fully committed

to the consolidation of security and stability at both regional

and international levels. This can best be reflected in its

position regarding its conflict with Eritrea and its

endeavours to solve border problems with its neighbours in

a peaceful manner.

The Republic of Yemen supports the process of a

comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East and the

principle of land for peace. But, like other Arab countries,

it categorically rejects the principle of peace for peace.

The Republic of Yemen has condemned all forms of

terror, be it terror committed by an individual, by a group

or by a State.

These are the foundations and the principles of the

foreign policy of the Republic of Yemen.

At the internal level, the relation between the

Government and its citizens is based, as I said before, on

constitutional legitimacy; on equality among all citizens,

whether male or female; on equality in rights and

obligations of men and women alike; on the freedom of

individuals and groups; on the freedom of association to

parties, trade unions and civilian community organizations;

on freedom of the press; and on the protection of human

rights.

On the basis of its deep understanding of the noble

principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the

Republic of Yemen is pursuing a foreign policy that is

based on mutual respect, positive cooperation, common

interests, rejection of violence in international relations,

peaceful coexistence, maintenance of security and stability,

good neighbourliness, and consolidation of the role of

Yemen in attending to the needs of our nation and in

standing for the causes of righteousness, justice and peace

in the world under the wise leadership of His Excellency

President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In this regard we are satisfied with the results of our

efforts to improve our relations and to cooperate with our

brothers and friends. Here we take pride in having been

able to solve the border problem between our country and

the sisterly Sultanate of Oman, and to reach a final

solution acceptable to both parties. This can be an

example to be followed by brothers and neighbours in

solving border problems.

This is what we are trying to do now with our

brothers and neighbours in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

We hope that we will be able to achieve what we all are

looking for: to serve the interests and aspirations of our

two brotherly and neighbourly peoples and to consolidate

stability and peace in the region.

With the aim of reaching a peaceful solution that

safeguards legal, historical and geographic rights, the

Republic of Yemen has endeavoured to avoid escalation

and to dissipate tension. It has demonstrated a sincere

desire and exerted great efforts both in dealing with the

Eritrean occupation of the Yemeni Greater Hanish island

in the Red Sea in mid-1995 and all along in the

negotiations between the two countries. We did not rush

to use force, but rather have sought to pursue all peaceful

ways and means. We have opted for dialogue through

official mediation and international arbitration in order to

save our neighbouring peoples the scourge of war.

While the Republic of Yemen expresses its solidarity

with the brotherly Somali people, the Yemeni leadership

represented by His Excellency President Ali Abdullah

Saleh has added its efforts to those of the League of Arab

States, the Organization of African Unity and the Inter-

Governmental Authority on Drought and Development

(IGADD) to achieve peace in Somalia. Just last August,

President Saleh received the United Nations envoy to

Somalia when he visited to our capital. At that time the

Republic of Yemen expressed its special interest in the

Somali question and discussed its efforts to find a suitable

solution to the conflict in Somalia, not only in view of the

historical and social links between Yemen and Somalia,

but also in view of the negative effects this crisis could

have on our countries and the fact that thousands of

Somali refugees have come to Yemen.

The Republic of Yemen has affirmed its readiness to

cooperate with the United Nations with a view to

normalizing the situation in Somalia and enabling that

country to become an active member of the international

community. Our joint efforts have resulted in noticeable

progress in this respect. Our political leadership has

24

received a number of Somali leaders and has sought to

solve outstanding differences in Somalia. This is because of

our belief in the need to safeguard the unity and territorial

integrity of Somalia and to achieve justice and equality

among its citizens.

From this rostrum we hereby call upon our Somali

brothers to take the initiative themselves and to demonstrate

a greater political will and sincere desire to find a peaceful

solution to the conflict and to attain stability so that

Somalis can restore their national institutions and

reconstruct their country. In this way it will be possible for

Somali refugees to return to their regions and be resettled

in their country.

We also call upon the international community to

increase its effort and to provide the necessary assistance

and support to rebuild the State institutions within a

framework of national consensus that is acceptable to all

Somalis.

When we met last year Yemen welcomed the

memorandum of understanding that was signed between

Iraq and the United Nations in May 1996 to implement

Security Council resolution 986 (1995) on the oil-for-food

formula, it being the first step to alleviate the sufferings of

the Iraqi people. Yemen was optimistic that this agreement,

which was reached after arduous negotiations, would be

implemented without delay. But we find now that the

implementation of that agreement often faces great

difficulties, which has compounded the agony of the Iraqi

people.

The Republic of Yemen, while reaffirming the need

for Iraq to implement all the resolutions of international

legitimacy and to continue its cooperation with the United

Nations, finds it necessary and urgent to alleviate the

suffering of the Iraqi people caused by the embargo

imposed on that country.

This leads me to talk about the air embargo and other

measures imposed on the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and

about the damages and sufferings inflicted upon the

brotherly Libyan people in consequence of this unfair

embargo. We would like to affirm our call for an end to

this embargo in the context of the resolutions of the League

of the Arab States, the Organization of African Unity and

the Non-Aligned Movement.

Concerning Sudan, my country would like to express

its happiness about and support for the new developments

and changes regarding the Khartoum peace agreement,

which should receive the support and backing of the

United Nations and the international community.

We in the Republic of Yemen look with much

admiration and respect on the way in which democratic

elections were held recently in the Islamic Republic of

Iran. We congratulate its new President on his election,

and we applaud its Government for the approach it has

adopted towards the region. However, we call upon our

brothers in the Islamic Republic of Iran and in the United

Arab Emirates to continue their direct dialogue in order

to reach a final and peaceful solution to the question of

the three islands, in accordance with the United Nations

Charter, the principles of international law and the

principle of good-neighbourliness.

The maintenance of international peace and security,

the achievement of sustainable development and respect

for human rights depend, first and foremost, on the

political will of the Member States of this Organization.

Yet the selectivity used by the powerful Members of the

Organization in dealing with others will strip the new

world order, whose characteristics are not yet

ascertainable, of its humanity and the justice to which we

all aspire. Therefore this rostrum and this Organization

represent the real safety valve for the security and safety

of all mankind.